The Charlotte Bobcats Own the Staples Center

That's right, the Charlotte Bobcats defeated the Lakers 117-110 in double overtime last night in the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It was the third straight win for the Cats in the Staples Center and 5th win in the last 6 against the Lakers. LA had won 14 of their last 17 and owned an NBA best record at 35-8 but great performances all around were enought to outlast the best team in the west even after they let a lead slip away in regulation. Raymond Felton was one assist shy of a triple-double , and Boris Diaw was one rebound and assist away from one as well. Emeka Okafor had 18 and 11 including 6-7 from the line.

Kobe Bryant finished with 38 points but fouled out in the first overtime. Pau Gasol shot just 4-16 from the field. The Lakers' furious 4th quarter comeback was aided by poor free-throw shooting from Charlotte and the Lake Show took a 6 point lead in the first OT. The Bobcats battled back however and now improve to 12-10 since they traded away Jason Richardson for Diaw and Raja Bell. "That was a heck of a win; it was a heck of a performance," coach Larry Brown said of his Charlotte team. The Bobcats get no rest as they must turn around and play at Portland tonight.

Another point of concern was a flagrant foul by Andrew Bynum on Gerald Wallace with a minute to go in the fourth quarter that sent Wallace to the floor.



Wallace was down for minutes and walked very slowly to the locker room. The early indication is that Wallace suffered a collapsed lung. It would be a huge hit to the Bobcats momentum to lose Wallace for any amount of time but it does not take the shine off a gutty performance and a great win.